Collapsible trunk or foot locker



June Z6, 1956 w. H. ARLITT, JR

COLLAPSIBLE TRUNK OR FOOT LOCKER 3 SheetS-Shee l Filed Aug. 24, 1953 INVENTQR ATTORNEYS June 26, 1956 w. H. ARLITT, JR

COLLAPSIBLE TRUNK 0R FOOT LocxER 5 Sheets-Sheet Filed Aug. 24, 1953 1 N VE NTOR ATTORNEYS June 26, 1956 w. H. ARLl'rT, JR

coLLAPsIBLE TRUNK 0R FooT LocKER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 24, 1953 United tates ares COLLAPSIBLE TRUNK R FOGT LOCKER William H. Arlitt, Jr., San Antonio, Tex.

Application August 24, 1953, Serial No. 376,137

2 Claims. (Cl. 190-21) This invention relates to improvements in trunks or foot lockers and has for its primary object to provide a collapsible construction whereby the trunk or footlocker can be shipped or stored in a collapsed condition and may be easily erected into usable condition, and after such use may again be restored to attened condition for storage purposes.

Another object of this invention is to provide a collapsible trunk wherein the sides are hingedly attached to the bottom and top of the trunk and the ends are removable, so that the entire trunk can be dismantled and stored in a flattened condition.

Another object of this invention is to provide a collapsible tray for a trunk of the above type, the end Walls and partition of the tray being hingedly mounted on the bottom thereof, and being movable about such hinge connections from vertical to horizontal positions llat on the tray bottom.

A further object of this invention is to provide an inexpensive and sturdy trunk which can be reduced to a compact form for shipping or storage and which can be easily erected into a stable and sturdy trunk or foot locker.

These and ancillary objects and structural features of merit are attained by this invention, the preferred embodiment of which is set forth in the following description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

ln the drawings:

Figure l is a. view in perspective of a trunk or footloclrer constructed in accordance with this invention.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the trunk in a knocked down condition.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the tray in a knocked down condition.

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of Figure 1, with the lid in closed position.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure l.

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 6 6 of Figure 1.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the means for securing the partition to the side wall of the tray.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a corner connector for the tray.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawings and initially to Figure 2, the trunk 16 includes a rectangular bottom 12 and a front wall 14 which is secured by hinges 16 to one side edge of the bottom Wall. As shown in Figure 2, the front wall 14 is hinged by the hinges 16 to the front edge of the bottom 12 so as to lie flat thereon when the trunk is in a knocked down condition and to be disposed at right angles thereto in an upstanding position when the trunk 14) is in an erect condition. A back wall 17, which is co-extensive in length and width to the front wall 14, is secured by hinges 13 to the rear edge of the bottom wall 12. One

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leaf of each of the hinges 16 is mounted on the upper side of the bottom wall 12 While one leaf of each of the hinges 18 is aixed to the under side of the bottom wall 12. Thus, the front wall 14 is adapted to lie at on the upper surface of the bottom wall 12, while the rear wall 17 is adapted to lie dat on the under surface of the bottom wall 12 when the trunk 10 is folded into collapsed condition. A lid 20 which is co-extensive in 'width and length with the bottom wall 12 is secured by hinges 22 to the upper edge of the back wall 17 and the leaves 22 of the hinges 22 are secured to the outside upper portion of the back wall 17, the hinges having pintles 22" which may be removed to detach the lid 20 from the rear wall 17. A hasp 24 is carried by the front edge of the lid 20 and is adapted to be received by the staple 26 on the upper portion of the front wall 14.

End walls 26 and 28 are provided and are identically constructed. The end walls 26 and 28, as shown in Figures 1, 5 and 6, are formed at their side edges and bottom edge with angle iron straps 30. The angle iron straps Si) form a frame, the flanges 32 of which are riveted as at 34 to the end walls. The flanges 32 overhang the edges of the ends 26 and 23 to space the flanges 36 outwardly of the edges. The anges 36 and the spaced edges of the ends 26 and 28 provide a channel 3S to receive the end edges of the bottom wall 12 and the side walls 14 and 17, as shown in Figure 6. The anges 36 are formed with openings for the reception of screws 4t) or similar fastening members which are threaded into openings 42 formed in the bottom wall 12 and sides 14 and 17 of the trunk.

Both of the ends 26 and 28 are provided with blocks 44 that are bolted to their exteriors and serve as hand grips. The undersurface 46 of the block 44 is bevelled so that it slopes outwardly and downwardly from the ends 26 and 28 to provide a secure gripping Surface. The hand grips 44 are secured by bolts 48 to the ends 26 and 23 and interior of the ends rests 5t) are iiXed on the ends by the bolts 48. A pair of rests 5G are provided for the tray 52, which is constructed as illustrated more particularly in Figure 3. As shown therein, the tray S2 includes a bottom wall 54 and front and rear walls 56 and 58. The front wall S6 is secured by hinges 60 to the front edge of the bottom 54 and is adapted to fold down and over onto the underside of the bottom 54. Similarly, the rear wall 58 is secured by hinges 62 to the rear edge of the bottom 54 and is adapted to fold down and lie at on the underside of the bottom 54. End walls 64 and 66 are provided and are hingedly mounted by hinges 63 and 7G on the upper surface of the bottom 54 at the ends thereof. The end walls 64 and 66 are both formed with round linger openings 72. A transverse partition 74 is hinged, as at 76, to the bottom 54 intermediate the end walls 64 and 66 and is adapted to fold down into the bottom 54.

lt will be noted that the end walls 64 and 66 are secured by their hinges 68 and 79, respectively, so that l and 4, is seated on the rests 50. In shipping or storing v the trunk 10 and its associated tray 52, the front wall 14 is folded down onto the bottom 12 and the rear wall 17 and lid 20 are folded together and placed at on the underside of the bottom 12. The ends 26 and 28 are placed in end to end relation on the front wall 14 and lie;all on opposite sides of the staple 26 flat on the front w TheA tray 52 when in collapsed condition, has its Walls 56 and 58 folded at on the underside of the bottom Wall 54 and the end walls 64 and 66 and the partition 74 lie at on the bottom 54 as Yillustrated in Figure 3. The

tray 52, in such collapsed condition, is jplacedv on top; of Athe collapsed trunk 10, and ropes or other suitable flexible elements can be used to tie the trunkV 10 and tray 52 together and retain them in collapsed condition.

To erect the trunk 10, the Walls 14 and 17 are moved abouttheir hinges 16 and 1S, respectively, to vertical position on the trunk bottom 12 with the lower edges of the Walls 14 and 17 raised on the upper surface of the bottom 12 With the sides disposed ush with the side edges of the bottom 12. The ends 26 and 28 are then moved on to the end edgesn of the bottom 12 and sides 14 and 17, with the end edges of such parts being received in the channels 3S and with such parts Vbeing secured to the flanges 36 of the end frames 30 by the screws40.Y The trunk 10 is then in secured and erected condition as illustrated in Figure 1, and the sides 56 and 58 of the tray 52 are raised to vertical position and the tray 52 is inserted in the trunk 10 with the bottom Wall 54 of the tray 52 seating on the rests 50. The end walls 64 and 66 of the tray and the partition 74 are then raised to vertical positions. The partition 74 is retained in such position by means of a holder 53, or it may be left dat on the bottom 54, if it is not desired to partition olf the tray. Of course, the trunk 10 can be utilized Without the tray 52, if desired.

When the tray 52 is assembled, the corners thereof may be secured together by means of corner members 51, and the partition 74 is secured to the sides by means of a holder 53 which is formed of an inverted U-shaped member S5 having extending Y'therefrom a projection 57 with a depending plate 59 bearing against the outer side of Wall 56. The lid 20 may be detached from Wall 17 by removing the pintles from hinges 22. The trunk 10 and tray 52 are preferably constructed from light Weight and inexpensive materials such as plywood or the like Wood or plastic materials.

While the preferred form of this invention has been illustrated in the accompanying drawings `and described herein, other forms may be realized so that limitation is sought only in accordance with the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A collapsible trunk comprising a bottom Wall, a front wall, means hinging said front wall to the front edge of said bottom Wall whereby said front Wall is adapted to fold from a position perpendicular to said bottom wall to a position parallel to and against the top face of said bottom Walharearvwall, ymeans hinging said rear Wall to the rear edgeof said bottom Wall whereby said rear Wall is adapted to fold from a position parallel to said front Wall to a position parallel to and against the bottom face of said bottom Wall, a lid, means hingedly and detachably securing said lid to the upper edge of said rear Wall, `a pair of end Walls, an angle iron member having one flange thereof secured to the side edge portion and the bottom edge portions of said end Walls with the'other flange thereof spaced from the side edges and bottom 'edge thereof to provide a channel between said second flange and said edges with the end edges of said bottom wall, said front and said rear Walls seated in said channels, Vand means detachably securing said bottom, front and rear walls to said second flanges. A 2. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means hingedly securing said lid to said rear Wall includes a hinge having a removable pintle.

References Cited inthe rile of Ythis patent UNITED STATES PATENTS l 847,171 Eichelberger Mar. l2, 1907 921,603 FloraY May 11, 1909 Y1,174,566V l Graham Mar. 7, 1916 1,198,524 Cunie Sept. 19, 1916 1,879,102 Collins VSept. 27, 1932 2,347,192 Y Grice Apr. 25, 1944 2,497,979 Cole et al Feb. 21, 1950 2,541,846 Ullrich Feb. 1 3, 1951 

